Researchers elucidate the principle of copper oxidation at the atomic level for the first time

According to the Ministry of Science and Technology of Korea, the joint research team of Korea and the United States used ultra-flat copper thin films with a single atomic layer level of roughness to verify the oxidation principle of copper for the first time in theory and experiments
.
Identify oxygen entry pathways and develop thin-film technologies that prevent oxygen self-oxidation
.
The related research results were published in "Nature"
.

After 1 year of continuous observation of ultra-flat copper films exposed to air using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, the researchers did not observe natural oxide films on the copper surface and no oxidation at the atomic level
.
The results of calculating the energy change of oxygen entering the copper interior show that when the surface roughness is more than two atomic layers, oxygen can easily penetrate into the copper interior, but on a completely flat surface or a single atomic layer, oxygen penetration requires a lot of energy , so oxidation does not occur at room temperature
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At the same time, the oxygen existing on the surface of the ultra-flat film has a self-regulating function that is always maintained at 50%
.